Drinker Biddle’s Health Care Team advised Thomas Jefferson University in its recent combination with Magee Rehabilitation, which was finalized on January 5, 2018. The integration formalizes a decades-long relationship, and expands Jefferson’s reach to include 14 hospitals and 50 outpatient locations across two states.

Magee Rehabilitation, ranked 13th among rehabilitation hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, is the Philadelphia region’s original provider of physical and cognitive rehabilitation. The not-for-profit hospital and three outpatient centers provide lifetime rehabilitation and wellness programs for individuals with spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, orthopedic joint replacement, amputation, pain management, and work injury.

The partnership between Jefferson and Magee began in 1978, when the organizations formed Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Delaware Valley, which was then designated as one of the nation's 14 Model Spinal Cord Injury Centers by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.

Partner Gerry McCartin and associate JeannaGunville led the efforts on behalf of Jefferson, including due diligence, management of corporate and regulatory requirements, and negotiation of definitive agreements.

The deal continues Jefferson’s expansion, which has included mergers with Philadelphia University and Kennedy Health, as well as mergers with Aria Health in 2016 and Abington Health in 2015. Drinker Biddle served as lead transactional counsel for Jefferson on each of those transactions.

Drinker Biddle’s Health Care Team represents hospitals and health systems with strategic affiliation transactions, including pre-transaction counseling, due diligence, regulatory and antitrust reviews, negotiations and post-transaction integration. The team is actively advising on health care affiliations in New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, California, and other markets across the U.S.